Atalanta dominates Roma as Gasperini calms hype
Atalanta claimed a vital win in the race for UEFA Champions League sports, beating Roma 2-1 at home to move three points clear of Deniele De Rossi's team on the Serie A table.
Atalanta is now fifth and in the final UEFA Champions League spot with 63 points, and also has a game in hand ovefr sixth-placed Roma.
Gian Piero Gasperini's side can also secure a ticket to Europe's elite club competition if it overcomes Bayer Leverkusen, which is unbeaten this season, in the UEFA Europa League final on 23 May (AEST) in Dublin.
There is also the matter of a Coppa Italia final against Juventus But despite all this week against Juventus, but despite all the hype around his side, Gasperini does not consider it favourite for that particular clash.
The 66-year-old's Atalanta side has been in extraordinary form this term, though, while Juve's slump continued as it was lucky to escape against already relegated Salernitana with a 1-1 draw, thanks to a late equaliser from Sdrien Rabiot.
Gasperini is seeking his first trophy with Atalanta since he started the job in 2016.
"I think it's a bit much to suggest we'd be favourites against Juve. We are in good form, but it’s difficult to tell playing every three days," he said.
"Naturally, we go into this Coppa Italia Final with great enthusiasm."
Against Roma, Atalanta's AC Milan loanee Charles De Ketelaere dominated, scoring twice inside 20 minutes, and has flourished since joining the club.
"Everyone knew he could play, or Milan would not have made an investment like that. He deserves the credit, he was going all over the place, right, left and centre tonight," Gasperini said.
Lorenzo Pellegrini reduced the deficit for the visitors with a penalty after 66 minutes but overall Atalanta was dominant.
While Gasperini was happy with the win, he did not enjoy the wastefulness of his side.
"I don't know if we’ve learned a lesson, other than we had so many scoring opportunities and did not aim properly, otherwise we would have killed it off a lot earlier," he said.
"Failing to win this match really would have caused us a lot of problems."